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Expat wanderer

More Than 500 Mass Shootings in USA 2023

This week I needed to make a trip to WalMart. For the first time, I asked AdventureMan to go with me. I felt unsafe, going to WalMart. Pensacola is rife with emotionally unregulated people carrying guns. Florida is worse. Do gun “rats” enthusiasts not realize that most gun deaths are people shooting people in their own families or social circles, or shooting themselves? The mass shootings below are just the tip of the iceburg.

This is from Axios:

U.S. surpasses 500 mass shootings in 2023

April Rubin

Share on email (opens in new window)https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oLfvX/Data: Gun Violence Archive; Note: Includes incidents where at least four people were shot or killed, excluding the shooter; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios

There have now been 501 mass shootings in the U.S. this year.

Driving the news: A shooting that wounded four people in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday night marked the country’s 500th mass shooting in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

  • Hours later, that increased to 501 mass shootings after one person died and five others were wounded in El Paso, Texas, early Sunday.

By the numbers: Just five years ago, the country had never experienced 500 mass shootings in one year:

  • 2018: 335 mass shootings
  • 2019: 414 mass shootings
  • 2020: 610 mass shootings
  • 2021: 689 mass shootings
  • 2022: 645 mass shootings

Flashback: The 500 mass shootings threshold was crossed in September in the past two years, according to the archive.

  • In 2020, it occurred in October.

Between the lines: The FBI does not define or quantify what constitutes a mass shooting.

  • Gun Violence Archive, an independent research and data collection organization, defines a mass shooting as a shooting in which four or more people were shot or killed, not including the shooter. This makes its numbers higher than some other sources with varying definitions.

Of note: A January shooting on the eve of Lunar New Year in Monterey Park, California, a largely Asian American area, has caused the most deaths so far in 2023. Eleven people were killed and nine others injured in the massacre.

The big picture: With increasing personal experiences, more Americans view gun violence as a public health concern.

Zoom in: Gun violence has greatly affected children. Firearms are the top killer of kids in the country.

Go deeper: Gun deaths among U.S. children hit a new record high

September 19, 2023 Posted by | Community, Crime, Cultural, Quality of Life Issues, Safety, Social Issues, Values | Leave a comment

And Just Like That . . .

And just like that, the temperatures have dropped and I feel like a different person. I joke about being Alaska girl, unable to handle the high temperatures, but the truth is, it is the truth. I have adapted by doing everything I really need to do early in the morning and mostly staying in air-conditioned locations – my car, a restaurant, a well-cooled grocery store, my house – when the temperatures go above 80 something F.

Yesterday, we tried a food truck our son had recommended, The Brown Bagger at Alga Beer (2435 N 12th Ave Pensacola ) for smash burgers. That place was hoppin’! I had the Hoppin Jack, a burger with jack cheese and jalapenos, with a side of brussel sprouts (Brussel sprouts!) and for the first time in months, we sat at a table outside and ate in comfort. While the burger was delicious, it was too much meat for me, and I loved the brussel sprouts, which I think were deep-fried. Does that take away the nutritional virtue of eating Brussel sprouts?

Getting up in the morning to cooler temperatures just makes me happy, it makes my day start right. I was wondering if climate change was going to make the hot mornings drag on into October, or November. The breath of coolness as I do my morning steps gave me hope that the winter season is truly coming.

September 19, 2023 Posted by | Climate Change, Food, Living Conditions, Pensacola, Weather | Leave a comment